


The Ink that Decorates Our Path

by pendulum_star



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V, Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Blood, Bluestarshipping, Eventual Romance, Kidnapping, M/M, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Self-Harm, Slow Burn, There's a happy ending... probably, Torture, Yusaku and Yuya try to find each other through drawing on their arms
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-02
Updated: 2019-02-11
Packaged: 2019-08-14 13:45:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,924
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16493717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pendulum_star/pseuds/pendulum_star
Summary: They say that your soulmate is just within reach as long as you have anything that will mark on your skin, for it will show up their skin just as it did on yours. Yuya Sakaki and Yusaku Fujiki have both heard the tale, but is it possible that this bond can transcend through different dimensions? How will this affect their own separate journeys in finding themselves… and each other?A twist on the retelling of both ARC-V and VRAINS for a ship that I like to cry over constantly.





	1. Ten Years Ago

Yuya is four years old.

He’s just heard the story of how his parents met – through the ink on their skin that guided them to each other.

They had known they were soulmates ever since they were young.

Yuya is curious.

He wants to try and find his soulmate; he always wants to make new friends.

He grabs a crayon and starts to draw on his left arm.

By the time he finishes, there’s many smiley faces and bright stars – all in different colours to match one of his favourite cards.

Yuya hopes his soulmate, wherever they are, likes his pretty pictures.

 

* * *

 

Yusaku is six years old.

He’s on his way to see his friend as they promised to have a fun duel today.

He’s invited inside by his friend’s father before feeling a light tingling sensation on his arm. 

Yusaku is curious.

He sees the crayon smiley faces and bright stars decorate his left arm and can’t help but think back on a story his mother once told him about how she met his father. 

Yusaku wonders if this is his soulmate - he likes the idea of making new friends.

By the time the drawings finish, his mouth is covered with a chloroform cloth and he feels himself getting dizzy.

Yusaku hopes that someone, wherever they are, can hear his muffled scream before everything fades to black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... who was ready for that little twist at the end there? Haha I'm not crying you're crying.
> 
> I'll be updating these as best as I can, but I am working on a few projects at once. I'll try my best!
> 
> I'm currently accepting writing prompts!  
> https://pendulum-star.tumblr.com/
> 
> Feel free to come talk to me about Yuya x Yusaku or anything else on Twitter:  
> https://twitter.com/lunaa_meng


	2. The Lost Incident

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuya is safe in the calming light, while Yusaku is trapped in the endless darkness.
> 
> All they have to communicate are the marks on their arms.
> 
> Will they be able to reach other, or will it be too late?

Yuya didn’t hear back from his soulmate for three months. He checked his arm every single day, but nothing showed up on his skin if not drawn by himself, but he didn’t give up. Everyday he drew on his arm with anything that would make a mark on his skin. Whether it was paint or markers, Yuya continued to draw everything he could possibly think of – smiley faces, stars, and hearts –  _anything_ to get his soulmate’s attention.

But still there was nothing.

“Don’t worry, Yuya,” his father had said, giving his shoulder a gentle squeeze one afternoon when Yuya had shown him his blank arm with a sad look on his face. “These things take time. Maybe your soulmate is a little shy, so don’t give up just yet, okay? You still have a long life ahead of the both of you.”

Yuya kept this in mind and continued with his efforts to try and make any kind of contact. He was going to keep trying for as long as it possibly took. He was sure of it.

… And one night, Yuya finally heard from them.

He was told by his father that there would be a light tingling sensation in his arms, but this _burned_ , forcing Yuya to wince with a light yelp leaving his lips as he took a look at his arm to see letters slowly being drawn deep into his skin. Each letter appeared slower than the last, as if the one behind the message was giving up more and more with every symbol they made. At his age, Yuya’s reading skills were still a little rusty, so he squinted at his arm, trying to sound the letters out with only the help of his night light to show him the message.

And when Yuya finally managed to figure out what the message said, he started to cry, because scratched deeply into his skin were four letters.

_ H - E - L - P _

 

 

* * *

 

Yusaku was cold and starving. How much time had passed since he had arrived? Weeks? Months? He didn’t know; Yusaku had completely lost track of time in this hell, but he didn’t care. He just wanted to go home. 

Green eyes shifted their gaze to the VR headset next to him and he curled up further into the lacking warmth of his thin brown blanket, praying that he wouldn’t have to face another day of torture when they had decided that he had been given enough time to sleep. He didn’t want to duel anymore. He didn’t want to _lose_ anymore. 

A quiet whimper left Yusaku’s lips as he held onto himself tighter in the dark, imagining the current of electricity rippling through him with those horrid words repeating in his head over and over again.

_ “YOU LOSE.” _

No… He couldn’t listen to it again.

The scared duelist pulled his arm away from his chest and looked at the faded stars and hearts that decorated his skin. The only thing that had kept him going so far was the thought of finally meeting the person who had given him these symbols. They had no idea of his situation, and yet they had been sending him courage without even realizing it, but how was he supposed to let them know? He had no pen or marker or anything else that could possibly mark his skin.

Unless…

Scared emerald eyes widened as an idea came to mind; the tale of finding your soulmate only mentioned that your skin had to be marked – it never said that you needed to specifically use ink. So without any further hesitation, Yusaku brought his nails down on his arm and began digging it into his skin. He felt the prick of tears in his eyes, but he didn’t stop; even as he scratched so hard that tiny bits of blood made itself known on the skin he had pierced, Yusaku kept going… until carved into his arm were a desperate message told with only four letters.

_ H - E - L - P _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A big thanks to my boyfriend for helping me with what Yusaku would do throughout the lost incident because I honestly had no idea originally haha. This is what happens when you kinda make this story up as you go along :'D
> 
> Thanks for reading! I'll try and update within the next few days!
> 
> I'm currently accepting writing prompts!  
> https://pendulum-star.tumblr.com/
> 
> Feel free to come talk to me about Yuya x Yusaku or anything else on Twitter:  
> https://twitter.com/lunaa_meng


	3. Time

The messages that burned Yuya’s arm continued to linger on his skin for three more months.

Every night was the same; his soulmate’s desperate cry for help would be scratched onto his arm, and the young child was left sobbing to his parents about the one he couldn’t save. It broke Yoko and Yusho’s hearts to know that there was nothing they could do to put their child at ease. They had tried to do some research on Yuya’s soulmate, but unfortunately there weren’t enough details to find anything substantial. They were stuck trying to convince Yuya that sending more positive messages with his pen was the best thing he could do for them right now. 

And Yuya, like the young child he was, trusted his parents’ guidance and kept up his usual behaviour of drawing little pictures of sunshine and smiles on his arm, as if hoping that would be enough to keep his soulmate company. He even drew his soulmates name in colourful letters when he finally learned what it was through a carved message one night – Yusaku.

Yet one day, Yusaku’s messages just… stopped. 

Yuya panicked at first, silently begging that his soulmate was okay. Even as he told his parents, all they could tell him was to be patient, because even they weren’t sure what to do.

So Yuya took their advice and wrote a little message for him everyday… and waited.

As everyone around him sang happy birthday when he turned five, he waited.

Every day when he walked with Yuzu to his father’s duel school to learn how to Action Duel, he waited.

Finally, on Yuya’s tenth birthday, after waving Gongenzaka and Yuzu off as they went home, he felt a light tingle on his arm. Even without the burning sensation of nails digging into his skin that Yuya had been used to, the sensation was familiar enough to recognize what it was.

A light gasp left Yuya’s lips and he lifted his arm up with a bright smile on his face, ecstatic to see that after all this time, Yusaku was okay.

And it was only until he read the message left in simple handwriting and blue ink did his smile fall in an instant.

“I’m fine. Please don’t reach out to me again.”

 

* * *

 

Yusaku was told to think of three things.

Three things to live.

Three things to go home.

Three things to defeat the enemy.

He was told that by thinking, he could still live.

And for three more months, he thought of three messages to carve into his arm for his soulmate to pick up on – to try and help set him free. Please help me. I’m scared. Can you help?

He figured his soulmate was either the same age or just a bit younger judging by their own replies of drawings of smiles, and… as simple as the replies were, Yusaku couldn’t help but trace over them at night when he was surrounded in nothing but a thin brown blanket. It was as if the drawings were done on purpose over the scars to act as a different blanket to help ease his pain, and for a few minutes every night… they did.

But only until the lights came on and Yusaku was forced to duel again.

For three more months he lived like this; he was woken up by the harsh white light and he was forced to duel for as long as his captors wanted until it was time to sleep. Sometimes he was lucky to get food based on his performance; other times… not so much.

Yet one day, when his heart was ready to break, the doors had opened and… he was free.

Yusaku had tried to let his soulmate know at first, but for weeks he was kept in a hospital undergoing tests to reverse the horrible physical effects he had been through. When he wasn’t being tested, he was sleeping, finally taking the time to get the rest he properly needed.

Or at least… as much rest as he could get without his nightmares disturbing him and forcing him to wake up screaming and crying.

When he was finally placed into therapy, Yusaku was given a pen by his therapist who told him it would be a good first step to his revery to let his soulmate know that he was okay, but no matter how close his pen got to his arm and no matter how many messages his own soulmate left for him, he could never bring himself to do it.

Because that was just it. He _wasn’t_ okay.

He didn’t want to lie to the person who tried to give him encouragement, so he stayed quiet.

As he hesitantly blew out a candle on the cake provided to him by his support teacher on his seventh birthday, he stayed quiet.

Every day when he watched all his classmates have fun without him and he kept to himself in his own corner, he stayed quiet.

Finally, on a warm summer’s evening on the steps outside of his therapist’s office, a twelve-year-old Yusaku looked at his arm to see another message left by his soulmate asking if he was okay. Colourful pictures had been swapped for messages of concern and panic, and every single one of them made his cold heart clench in guilt for never responding to any of them.

“Yuya…” Yusaku’s quietly whispered that night as his fingers traced over the message. He had desperately tried his best to forget his soulmate’s name when he had seen it for the very first time during one of his partner’s panicked messages, but he couldn’t help but let the name leave his lips every now and again.

He didn’t want to cause Yuya anymore pain, and Yusaku knew that if he was still a part of his life, he was only going to keep hurting him.

So six years later, Yusaku finally acted on his therapist’s advice and took a blue pen out of his pocket. And with only giving himself three seconds to hesitate, Yusaku wrote out his reply.

“I’m fine. Please don’t reach out to me again.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: says I'll update in the next couple of days  
> Also me: actually takes months
> 
> So sorry about the wait on this! I went to Japan in December and then I moved cities and have just started university classes again so it's been a bit of crazy time! My schedule is actually pretty flexible so I should be updating a lot more frequently now.
> 
> Feel free to come talk to me about Yuya x Yusaku or anything else on Twitter! I also have an announcement currently set as my pinned tweet so please go have a look!  
> https://twitter.com/lunaa_meng


End file.
